Importance of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in Treating of Covid-19 Patients
Personal protective equipment (PPE) has become standard, with the facemask being the most well-known example. In the early days of the pandemic, face shields and gloves were also employed to limit the spread of COVID-19, but they have since gone out of favour, with masks remaining the most significant PPE in the public. However, PPE is still an important aspect of the treatment of COVID-19 patients in healthcare, for a variety of reasons.
Defending Healthcare Personnel
For the past two years, health professionals have been on the front lines of the COVID-19 fight, and they are still an important element of the pandemic response. They are at the greatest risk of infection since they care for and treat infected individuals. PPE acts as a barrier between them and the virus, allowing them to continue to offer the care and treatments that they perform.
When there is an insufficient supply of PPE, health workers are concerned and unable to do their duties. This is why stakeholders are pressing health workers and other stakeholders to reconsider their attitudes toward personal protective equipment (PPE).
Instead of employing disposable PPE, a push is being made to introduce disposable PPE in circumstances where there is a shortage or if the PPE is unreasonably expensive. Some healthcare facilities are already reducing costs and reducing the impact of decreasing supply by adopting reusable and dependable isolation gowns, gloves, and other PPE.
Keeping the Public Safe
The responsibility of a healthcare professional to protect the public does not end when they leave the facility. They must also keep in mind that they are supposed to protect the general population. A single infected nurse or healthcare worker can set off a chain reaction of diseases that can quickly become out of hand. The simplest approach to avoid this is to make sure that no health care employees contract COVID-19. The best method to do so is to put on PPE and use it correctly.
Reinfection Prevention
Although the major reason health workers wear PPE is to protect themselves, it has also been proven that PPE such as face masks can minimise the likelihood of reinfection. Health care personnel who have contracted COVID-19 but are asymptomatic risk reinfecting their patients, some of whom may no longer have COVID but are nonetheless vulnerable to reinfection. These healthcare professionals are preventing the virus from spreading to their patients, causing infections and putting even more strain on already overburdened healthcare systems by wearing PPE.
Essential health services will continue to be provided
PPE aids with the reduction of infection rates among healthcare personnel. Infected healthcare employees are unable to continue working, putting some healthcare services at risk of being harmed or halted entirely due to a shortage of workers.
Healthcare personnel stay healthy, their numbers stay up, and vital services like flu injections, immunisation, and services that affect mothers and babies can continue uninterrupted if they have access to PPE.
Although personal protection equipment is necessary to protect healthcare professionals, it is still an important aspect of healthcare in many places. It also aids in the prevention of infections in the general population. When healthcare professionals use PPe both in the workplace and in public they are continuing to protect everyone from covid-19. this is vital to stop the spread of covid-19 to others after treating patients in hospitals.
The last thing we need is to add more patients to our hospitals so the more we do to prevent that the quicker this pandemic could be over. however, it is not just health care workers who can help here the public can also help by wearing PPE when visiting relartives or friends in hospital (where it is allowed) We all want this to be over so the quicker it is the better.